Adventures By Disney Backstage Magic, Day Four

Another early day, as usual! So little time, so much to do. We fueled our bodies at the Park Inn with a very neat character breakfast. The food was good (buffet/cafeteria style with just about any option you can think of), but perhaps the very best thing was walking down a virtually deserted Main Street. Custodial was out, but other than that we were pretty much alone. How peaceful, yet a bit eerie too! I felt like skipping down the street but somehow managed to surpress the urge since it would have looked quite unseemly for a 40-something women in flip-flops to do so.

Since we were the only ones eating at the restaurant that early, we had all sorts of great character interaction range from Eeyore to Fairy Godmother to Chip and Dale to Brer Fox and Brer Bear. Once we were all fueled, it was off for a behind the scenes peek at my favorite DL attraction: Indiana Jones! We were actually escorted into the maintenance bay where we saw exactly how the ride vehicles work to create the illusion of off-roading when you're really on a smooth track. It made me even sadder that we're stuck with Dinosaur in Florida, since its vehicles had the same capabilities but are programmed for a much tamer ride. Next up was a ride on Indy to give us even more appreciation for how it works. I had to keep reminding myself that it was the vehicle itself that was bouncing me up, down, and all around.

Afterwards, we went to the Big Thunder Ranch for a chance to feed the goats and pet the miniature donkey and cow. They were all so cute! They were quite eager for their meal, too, since we were just in time to give them their morning feeding. More animals were on tap later, as well as more backstage experiences; we got a behind-the-scenes look at the trains that run around the park, saw where the parade floats are kept, and also learned about the fireworks launching system. Then we saw the horses' quarters, as well as the original house where their trainers lived in Walt's day. There were a couple more cute little miniature donkeys back there too.

Since I am a horse owner, it was especially fascinating to me to learn about DL's equine residents. They were being trained while we were visiting; this happens to be a year that a number of them are being adopted out (they only work for five years, then go to carefully screened families), which means that a like number will be brought in for training. After a water break, we continued on with our tour and ended up in New Orleans Square for lunch. With its close proximity to Pirates of the Caribbean, is it any wonder we were joined by a genuine swashbuckler? He kept us entertained as me noshed on monte cristos and crab meat sandwiches, then escorted us over to PoC for a group ride.

Everything was awesome up to that point, but now we were in for the REAL treats! We split up into small groups, and my group had the amazing experience of boarding the Lilly Belle private train coach for a spin around the park! Riding in that car, which was decorated by Lillian Disney herself, was a real kiss with history. But we were were for an even greater treat...next up was a visit to Walt's own apartment above the firehouse! This was a place where Walt himself actually stayed and worked and even brought his family, and it's been kept in pristine condition in his honor. The light that was on when he was there is now left on permanently in his memory, to show that his spirit is always present.

To commemorate the rare experience of visiting his private sanctuary, we were all given lamp pins that can actually be turned on. That little memento gave me goosebumps. It was almost like making a direct connection with Walt in a small way. I know that people say they feel his presence at DL because he walked down Main Street and was all over the park, but I just didn't feel that the first time he visited. Perhaps it's because so many other millions of people have walked that way, too; it's like they "dilute" that presence. But to be in his apartment, where he and Lillian and their children and grandchildren spent family moments, and especially know it's a place that very few others have ever been, really let me feel a bit of his spirit.

After the tour, we had the option of VIP seating for the parade, up on the train station platform. Hubby and I took that option, as did over 20 others in our group. Unfortunately, they don't block people from going up and down the stairs during the parade, so they're constantly walking in from of your line of sight and even stopping and gaping for a while before a CM chases them away. They really need to close off the platform during that sign; otherwise, it's obstructed pretty frequently.

But that wasn't enough to inhibit our enjoyment, since we'd never seen the parade before. Afterwards, we ran off into the park, eagerly clutching our five VIP fastpasses that would all us to go an any rides that accept FP. Compared to WDW's Magic Kingdom, the number is limited but that was fine with me because I was most interested in Space Mountain and Indiana Jones. We used up our Fastpasses on those, just in time to head to Napa Rose for our dinner reservation (this was an on-your-own dinner night). I was hoping that it would compare to our WDW favorites like Jiko and Artist Point.

It was definitely very upscale; hubby was pleased with the wine sections, and I absolutely loved the scallop appetizer. Actually, my filet with cherries and nuts was yummy, too, although I had also had a cup of mushroom soup beforehand so I was a bit too full to enjoy to as much as deserved. Hubby ran into one little glitch; he can't eat chicken meat without getting sick to his stomach (although oddly broth doesn't bother him). Once, early in our marriage, he unknowingly ate meat loaf containing check and that was something I NEVER want to see again! At Napa, he ordered an appetizer without chicken, but when it arrived it indeed contain pieces of the nasty little bird. He figured it out before eating any, so his health escaped unscathed. They removed the charge for that and also for dessert; the free dessert wasn't necessary but still very nice of them.

It was an enjoyable meal, although the time change between FL and CA made it feel like I was eating at midnight. We had a big group across from us who'd obviously been drinking pretty heavily, as their volume was rising in direct proportion. Near as I could figure, it was someone's birthday and the doctor relative paying for it was loudly laughing about he would prescribe unnecessary surgeries to pay the bill. Thankfully they were at the end of their meal and finally left.

We had hoped to say hi to the manager, Michael Jordan, who we met on the Disney Magic when doing a transatlantic crossing last August. He did the wine tastings on board and brought the wines along with him. Each tasting had a theme of a particular type of wine and/or region, and he did a whole slide show along with each so you could see where the grapes were grown while you were tasting the wine. But since it was the Food and Wine Festival at DCA, he was out and about so we didn't get to see him.

Napa is good for a special dinner, and of course it's the perfect place for wine buffs because of the huge selection. For me, I thought it was pricey for what you get, although I knew that up front. Still, I couldn't help comparing it with places like Jiko, which are less expensive (“less” being a relative term) but just as delicious in my estimation. I think I've become jaded from living right next door to Disney World and having the best of their restaurants a few miles down the road, with the Disney Dining Experience card as an added bonus.

Actually, with as much as the feed you on your adventure, you could easily get by with a very light dinner on the nights it's not included and still be quite overfed. We don't generally eat breakfast, so with a delicious breakfast buffet each morning we were already starting out ahead!
If I had it to do over again, I would have opted for the Fantasmic VIP viewing area (the time conflicted with our Napa Rose ressie and we weren't able to change it) and just done a light dinner. Those who went to Fantasmic said the area offered a perfect view. Since we live in FL, we get to see the Disney Hollywood Studio version a lot, so that was why we didn't make it a priority at DL (we've already seen it once there too, many years ago).

After dinner, hubby went back to Disneyland, which was open until midnight, but I totally crashed into a comatose state. He got to ride quite a bit, including Nemo with only a 25 minute wait. I think that's one of the signs of the Apocalypse! As tempting as it was to go back, my feet were in a state of mutiny so I knew that I'd better go to sleep early if I wanted to win their full cooperation the next day.